Swimming Defeats New Rochelle to Open 2009-10 Season

NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The St. Joseph's College women's swimming team (1-0, 1-0 HVWAC) opened their inaugural varsity campaign with a 133-113 conference victory over College of New Rochelle (1-2) at the CNR Wellness Center on Friday evening.  Sophomore Kristen McMaster (Brooklyn, NY/Fontbonne Hall) paced the Lady Bears in the win, taking first in three of the four events she swam.

St. Joseph's captured first place in seven of the events and grabbed the top three spots in the 50 yard backstroke and the penultimate event, the 100 yard breaststroke, sealing the victory.  The Lady Bears also finished 1-2 in the 200 yard individual medley, 50 yard breaststroke and 200 yard freestyle relay.

McMaster had decisive wins in the 50 yard freestyle (30.52) and 100 yard freestyle (1:09.28).  Sophomore Alison Nunziata (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) also turned in a strong showing with a first place finish in the 200 individual medley (3:05.42).  McMaster and Nunziata were named team co-captains by coaches Lenny Devirgilio and Jennifer Safi after the meet.

Also capturing individual wins were freshman Olivia O'Hara in the 100 yard breaststroke (1:29.46), Brianne Reilly (Queens, NY/Frank Sinatra) in the 50 yard backstroke (42.95) and Elizabeth Fiorella (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) in the 50 yard breaststroke (43.58).  McMaster, Nicolle Velez (Brooklyn, NY/Archbishop Molloy), Nunziata and O'Hara closed out the meet taking first in the 200 yard freestyle relay.

Despite having limited practice time due to technical difficulties with the pool at Brooklyn Technical High School, the Lady Bears fared well against the College of New Rochelle squad who has the luxury of practicing in a state-of-the-art $28 million facility that opened in 2008.  In the interim, team has been practicing at Lincoln High School in Coney Island, which is approximately a 45 minute drive from St. Joseph's in normal Brooklyn traffic.

St. Joseph's returns to the pool on Saturday, November 14th for a Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference meet against Sarah Lawrence (2-0, 1-0 HVWAC).  Start time is 3 p.m. at the Campbell Sports Center in Bronxville, NY.